Southern California -- this just in

Double-murder suspect's home damaged in fire

August 22, 2011 | 12:43
pm

Hours before police arrested a double-murder suspect, someone set a fire at the man's Chatsworth home.

Police and fire officials are trying to determine how the fire is linked to the deaths. The blaze broke out at the home in the 20400 block of Lassen Street, where Brent Zubeck rented a room. It caused major damage, officials said.

Zubeck, wanted in connection with the deaths of a Chatsworth couple found in trash bins outside their home, had been hiding out since the Aug. 12 slayings, according to police. His arrest early Monday capped an hours-long standoff that began Sunday night and shut down parts of Encino. More than 100 law-enforcement officers and personnel searched for the suspect, police said.

Zubeck, who had lived at the Lassen Street house where the couple's bodies were found, was "a master of disguise," a source with the Los Angeles Police Department told the Los Angeles Times.

Police had gotten a report that Zubeck might be attending a party Sunday night in Encino.

Detectives were following him outside a Ralphs grocery store at Ventura Boulevard and Libbit Avenue about 9:30 p.m. Sunday when he turned and shot at them before running off.

Police closed off a square-mile area as they pressed their house-to-house search with the help of dogs.

Zubeck was eventually spotted and shot in the hip by police, who took him into custody.